Free High Definition Channels
by Desmond McGinn
You have your new high definition television, all mounted and running great. You turn it on and it’s connected to your cable or satellite box and you DVD player. Everything’s great right?
Not really. In fact, you may be quite disappointed with the first picture you see when you watch standard definition television on your new, expensive set.
Why? Three reasons, actually.
First, the size of your new screen. Second is the standard definition signal itself. Third is the “stretch” of that signal to fit the wide screen of the television. All of these contribute to the soft and fuzzy picture you’re seeing.
Without getting too deep, let me reassure you that you will get used to all of this within a few days. Also, DVD’s will look great because they are at the highest quality resolution for the standard definition and all wide screen movie don’t need to be stretched to fit your screen with the issues that causes.
If you are are fortunate, you already have a cable or satellite package that provide you with the true high definition that you’ve been seeing and hearing about. True hi-def is extraordinary. Every time I watch true high def, I’m amazed with the clarity of the picture and the purity and punch of the colors. To me, true hi-def has a depth in the picture that dvds or standard definition do not. It almost seems as though you can see behind the objects or people in the picture.
I’ve always been a picture quality fanatic. I bought my first high definition setup in 2000; forking out a considerable amount of money for tv, satellite dish and high-def receiver. All for one channel of HBO and Mark Cuban’s HDNET channel.
The HBO channel was great, but, the resolution was not what it should have been and HDNET’s early selection was 70's and 80's TV reruns and a few travel shows.
Today, both satellite and cable have expanded offerings with ESPN, Discovery, USA, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz having many great channels.
For our market, hi-def offerings from the big broadcast channels over cable and satellite have been slow in coming.
But, the hidden and “free” gem for our area is the “over the air” broadcast by most of the local channels. That’s right, KTBS (3, ABC), KTAL (6, NBC), KSLA (12), KMSS (33, Fox), KLTS (24, PBS) and even the CW (21, CT formerly UPN) all broadcast over the air, for free. If you have the antenna to catch them.
Yes, we are back to the days of an TV antenna and pole outside out houses to catch these great channels. Fortunately, the equipment costs is minimal. No rotators or complicated set up is needed. The local high def network channels all broadcast over the UHF frequency. As one local channels has been advertising for several months, in 2009, the local channels broadcasting over VHF (2-13) and UHF (14-50) will be going dark and only the high channels will be available for reception.
This effects very few of us as we have cable or satellite and this will not affect us. Soon, satellite and cable will be broadcasting the local networks in Hi-def as a small additional cost.
The hidden gem, today is the local channels in high def for free.
All of the broadcast network’s prime time shows are in high definition, college football, NFL, NASCAR, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and many, many shows are all produced and broadcast in high definition and are simply stunning.
Until you’ve seen LSU football, the Cowboys or the Saints in high definition, you don’t know what you are missing. PBS, with so many nature shows, will flat out blow you away with how beautiful our world is. All for free.
Also, KTBS, KSLA and PBS multicast, meaning that, in addition to their main channel in hi-def, they each have two more channels, usually in standard definition for more content, such as 24/7 radar, updated repeats of their news, a music channel and, for PBS, their standard channel, a “Create” channel with nothing but crafts, cooking shows and other instructions shows and a high-def channels with nothing but hi-def content.
Okay, so you ask, how to I get this?
First you need a ATSC tuner. Second you need a UHF antenna.
ATSC tuner you ask? Another piece of equipment to buy? Not really, for the past two years, but federal mandate, all high definition TV’s must have a built in ATSC tuner. That’s why you often see two cable connections on the back of your TV: one for standard definition, one for hi-def (or digital) signal. Some new TV’s use a single connector for both.
Some older satellite receiver also had a built-in ATSC tuner and can be used for older TV’s lacking a tuner.
Second is a UHF antenna. What kind do you need? What about set top antennas marketed as “hi-def” ready and amplified. While they are ok, they are very location dependent and, besides being unsightly, may actually requiring the old fashion adjusting according to the channel you want to watch.
An external antenna is the best way to go for most of us. Once installed and aimed, they catch all of the channels available with no fiddling, rotators and such. If you have more than one HD TV, properly split and amplified, the antenna can provide Hi-def signal for all sets.
What kind and size antenna and how do you set them up and aim them?
An excellent site that determines by your street address, the proper size of the antenna and the exact direction to aim it is Antennaweb.org,
http://www.antennaweb.org This site will not only tell you what size antenna you need and where to aim, it has lots of information about the location and mounting of you antenna for best reception and provides a list of all of the local channels broadcasting in hi-def.
You can do it yourself as most electronics retailers and home improvement stores have all of the equipment you need or you can hire a professional installer, including DEM Systems to do this for you.
So, contact us and get, inexpensively, many more channels for that new shiny, high-definition set in your living room. More importantly, treat your self to some of the best, “true” high definition shows available today. LSU, Saints, Cowboys, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Smallville will never look the same again.